Why can't Chinese books be published to the iBooks Store?
And when can they be?
iBook
We don't know.
Apple tends to not discuss future plans until they are ready. Apple isn't here.
Use the 'Contact Us' link in iTunes Connect to ask if you like.
6 replies
As far as I know, the only requirement for Chinese books is that they have to be in epub3 format. Since iBooks Author cannot do that, you have to use another app. See these links for info on how it is done:
http://m10lmac.blogspot.com/2012/10/ibookstore-adds-language-support.html
http://epicsword.pixnet.net/blog/post/38345625
I do see that there is a new note
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5711
which says you cannot publish such books, but I think that should only apply to iBooks Author.
PS Here is an example of a Chinese book in the store:
Perhaps the OP is asking when the books portion of the app store will be available in China...
Sorry, I didn't ask the question accurately.
In http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5711, Apple says: "Books using Chinese or Japanese as the primary language cannot be published to the iBooks Store."
My question is: what kind of an author (iBooks Author?) is that that can't publish its books?
Is this a problem of iBooks Author, or it's the iBooks Store to blame?
pegasusroe wrote:
Is this a problem of iBooks Author, or it's the iBooks Store to blame?
iBooks Author is not yet able to handle the requirements of Chinese books (vertical text and right to left page turning and phonetic guides), so Apple requires you to use some other app which can do those things before it will put your Chinese book in the iBookstore.
I gave you a link where it is explained in some detail how this has been done by another author.
To ask Apple to improve the capabilities of iBooks Author, you can go to
Why can't Chinese books be published to the iBooks Store?